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Meet Vernon Budinger of Angeles Photography Studio in San Gabriel Valley

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Vernon Budinger.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Vernon. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My parents had very nice cameras when I was a child: a Leica and a Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex. I always enjoyed looking at the pictures of our vacations; unlike a lot of people, I found the slide shows fascinating. I always dreamed of going back to those locations after watching the slides or looking through a photo album. I found the cameras intriguing and happily partnered with my father whenever he wanted to go somewhere to take pictures.

I started taking photography seriously in my early 20’s when I bought a Nikkormat ELW for a trip to Kenya, Africa. Though I was still an amateur, I quickly developed a love for capturing images of scenic landscapes and wildlife. I felt like I was capturing a slice of time from a place or the life of a beautiful creature. I lived in Africa for a year and learned a lot from experimenting with different films. Mostly, I fell in love with Kodachrome 25.

Then I went to college and I did not have the time or the budget for photography. In addition, I took the ELW on a canoe trip and it found its way to the bottom of the river. Fast forward twenty years early 2003, I had a solid career in finance but I found myself dreaming about cameras again. I bought a Nikon F5 because I still had my lenses.

My focus remained landscape, wildlife, and photojournalism style pictures. I was fortunate when I was recruited to work in Brazil. Brazil was captivating, the people, the culture, the scenery, and the animals. I started taking more pictures of people and city scenes. My passion turned to working with artificial light sources.

I began pursuing photography seriously when I returned in to the United States. I have since moved to Nikon digital cameras but I have started accumulating Zeiss prime lenses. I just finished organizing my photos and my images.

In 2010, I organized month-long photo journey to Western China, Xinjian and Tibet. During this trip, I realized how passionate I was about photography. When I returned to the United States, I laid the foundation for Angeles Photography.

I studied lighting, post-processing with Lightroom and Photoshop, and printing. Last year, I decided to formally follow my dreams and I created Angeles Photography. I buy the best equipment that I can afford because I want the best chance of creating that unforgettable image, the images that use beauty to tell a story.

My photographic craftsmanship is important to me. I try to learn something and to grow every day. I now have a small studio in my garage with Speedotron lights and Profoto modifiers. I love to experiment with the different lighting styles and camera techniques.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While I have not faced any disasters, it has not been a smooth road. I face two big struggles. The first challenge is developing my style and my business and making money from it. It one thing to take pictures that I like or pictures that others like; selling those pictures is another matter. The competition is fierce and many part-time pros do work for cut-rate prices just for fun. The challenge to develop a brand and differentiate my work.

Second, the business part of photography is important, but not always straightforward. I stopped printing my work for a while and printing technology has advanced leaps and bounds during that period. It took a little time to get back to speed on the newest developments. Also, learning Photoshop, while not a struggle, has been challenging. There are so many tools and techniques for revealing the image as I remember it.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Angeles Photography Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
Most of my business has come from Event Photography. I seem to have a knack for understanding the lighting challenges at different venues and developing solutions. I also visit the venue before the event to try out different gels and modifiers. However, there is always a new lighting situation or compositional problem that needs to be solved.

I have also had work as a fashion/fitness photographer through contacts with my friends. I enjoy the challenge of using light modifiers to set the mood. Inspiring the models to look their best and guiding through their poses is very enjoyable, I find it easy to connect and communicate with them.

It is important for me to keep pushing the frontiers of lighting and imagery. I am developing my fine art photography series and striving to move it to the point where it starts earning money for me.

I am most proud of the progress that I have made in developing the fine art part of my business. While there are a lot of photographers out there, there are not so many fine art photographers. I feel that I am close to breaking through on this front. I would like to take the fine art aspect of my business and apply it to the other photography channels, such as events.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck has played a small role. Luck can bring business opportunities, but seizing those opportunities and conceiving beautiful work requires preparation, research, experimentation, and creativity.

Skill is most important, it is the ability to create beautiful work every time you have an assignment.

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Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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